This story tells us a lot about ‘exotic pets’ including F1 Savannah cats. The video is useful as it tells us a bit about the owner. She’s lost her F1 Savannah, Mika, when he “ran out the of the house Tuesday March 5th in the Casa Loma area”. This is in Toronto, Canada. He did not return.
The statement tells us a hell of a lot about the typical relationship between an F1 Savannah cat owner and their pet exotic cat.
FYI – the F1 Savannah, as you probably know, is the product of an arranged mating between a medium-sized African wild cat, the serval, and a domestic tabby cat, often another Savannah cat. It is hard to arrange this mating which is why they are very expensive perhaps upwards of around $30,000 today.
They are the ultimate exotic feline pet today BUT:
- You have to keep them inside your home which will cause boredom for a cat with 50% wild genes and is therefore sharp as a tack and very keen to get outside for some excitement which is why they can escape and never come back.
- or leash train them to go for walks outside where you will get plenty of attention for other pedestrians and road users which you’ll have to accept and:
- Perhaps you’ll meet a criminal who’ll take you exotic pet from you at knife or gun-point as they are so valuable. I am being somewhat negative but realistic also.
You get the picture. Such an animal changes your life. Okay if you have the time and lifestyle which can accomodate this change but not a lot of people are in a position to care for an F1 Savannah to a good standard.
They are also active and intelligent. It is hard to keep them mentally stimulated when they are confined to the home as they must be.
And this woman surprises me a bit really as she does not know much about F1 Savannah cats. In the video she says that the F1 Savannah is an African desert cat which the TV presenter accepts but it is entirely incorrect.
You won’t see one F1 Savannah wandering around Africa. They are made in the US, Canada and other Western contries by breeders. That’s it. It is all down to artificial selection.
A lot of people desire to live with exotic pets perhaps as status symbols and/or because they are so beautiful in their eyes. It’s all about beauty. The appearance. It is like owning a flashy car. I bet this lady has a very flasy, convertible car such as a white Mercedes.
The reward that she is offering is so large that the news media have noticed and interviewed her. But when your darling, $30,000 cat walks out your home without saying goodbye, a $10k reward is about right.
It is likely that someone has picked up Mika – it has been more than a week now – and is preparing to find a buyer to make a fast $20k (discount sale). It depends if Mika is microchipped. That said microchipping is not absolute proof of ownership and sometimes theives cut out the microchip. Horrendous, I know but it does happen.
She may be fortunate and get him back. There are good people out there and the reward would come in handy to a lot of people but I tend to lack optimism that the outcome will be one that pleases her.
Sometimes a neighbour shoots an escaped F1 Savannah or pet serval as they are large. Some people might mistake an F1 Savannah cat for a wild cat species and think the animal has escaped from a private zoo. They might be scared and shoot it.
Or the cat panics as they are unfamilar with freedom and have no awareness of the dangers of road traffic and die on thr road.
A former Guiness World Records tallest domestic cat, another F1 Savannah, called ‘Trouble’ was killed on the road after escaping their home in the same way many years ago.
RELATED: How Was Trouble Killed?
Here is a video of another F1 Savannah cat on a lead in a store in the US. This video was made by Kathryn Stucki who formerly owned A1 Savannahs with her husband, Martin. The video was made near Oklahoma, USA.
